Gordana Throws
Francis a Vinyl Body Block

Bob Comes
back to Life

Francis Vale

The Road to High
End Damascus has many forks. Sometimes you get lucky, and catch an express
ride. Other times, you have to get there one slow, short ride at a time.
Digital Compact
Disc, with its Perfect Sound Forever, was supposed to have been the Bullet
Train straight into downtown. Hey, I fell for it. I bought my ticket,
and came within
inches of dumping my entire collection of vinyl. Were it not for my wife Gordana,
who threw a whole body block across the trash chute, my many years of
LPs would
have long since been recycled into Mr. Potato Heads or some other plastic nonsense.
So, the old vinyl sat, sleeping grooved dreams, stored away in boxes
in the back
of the closet.

Then came the Great Awakening in the form of Brian Tucker of Pro Audio, who came
to Boston bearing, Mirabile dictu! an all carbon fiber turntable, tone arm, and
phono cartridge. This remarkable space age material ensemble comes from the UK-based
Wilson Benesch.

Within
minutes, we had up and running the Wilson Benesch ACT2 player, and its Hybrid
cartridge. Perhaps most amazing is the look and feel of the Wilson Benesch carbon
fiber tone arm. Looking like some sleek, glossy scaled animal, the tone arm
exudes an organic vitality. You want to caress it, and maybe even give it a
name -- but nothing cute, though.

Of course, to give the Wilson Benesch the full acoustic isolation treatment,
we just had to put this gorgeous rig on top of D.J. Casser Enterprises' Shelf
(review forthcoming), which in turn sat on top of three of his already-proven-amazing
Black Diamond Racing Cones.

But what to play first? Perhaps presciently, Mobile Fidelity had already supplied
an answer. MoFi issues its releases on both gold-covered CDs, as well as on
200 grams of High Definition vinyl. And both playback mediums are manufactured
via MoFi's remarkable GAIN System. We had a collection
of MoFi CDs and LPs in for review. So here was the perfect opportunity to do
a real time AB comparison between two different sources, playing the same material,
created from the same master tape, and using the same recording process.

First, a glittery MoFi CD was slipped into the Rat Shack 3400 (also sitting
on three of Casser's Cones), which in turn is connected via an Ensemble Digiflux
75 coax cable into an Enlightened Audio Designs 1000 Series II DAC. This MoFi
CD was the recent reissue of "Ella and Louis Again UDCD (2-651). The album
comes on two mono discs. These recording sessions from August, 1957, had Fitzgerald
and Armstrong backed up by the Oscar Peterson Trio (with Louis Bellson in lieu
of Buddy Rich).

Next, onto the Wilson Benesch rig, we placed a piece of virgin MoFi vinyl. We
carefully timed the start of identical tracks on both the CD and LP, and away
we went, with one person standing by the Cary SLP-90L Preamp to flip the source
switch. (The Cary's glowing tubes were also now corseted and cooled via Ensemble
Tube Socks II, again thanks to Tucker.) The analog Preamp being used with the
Wilson Benesch cartridge is Ensemble's Phonomaster, whose sleek Swiss-made chrome
chassis is a perfect match for the equally-chromed and slick looking Cary unit.

The first track we listened to was Louis singing "Let's Do it (Let's Fall in
Love)". Quickly, we flip back and forth between the CD and LP. And then, and
then, oh my God! It's true! All that stuff we had dismissed as so much high
end drivel about vinyl being superior to CDs is true! No, No, No. This cannot
be! What happened to our Perfect Sound Forever that Sony and Philips had promised
us! One more cherished belief down the tubes. Perfect Sound Forever suddenly
joined Nixon's "I did not tell a lie". Damn. Yet one more reason to be cynical
about the Meaning of Life.

But this time, at least, it was a fair trade off. For there, singing in front
of us, real as life, 3D himself, a full, round sound floating in true VR space,
was Louis. Not a paper cutout Louis, but a Real Louis, singin' about bees doin'
it, oysters doin' it, and Boston Baked Beans doin' it. Oh wow. Now back to the
CD. Heretofore, Gordana and I had really enjoyed this disc. Ignorance is indeed
bliss. The CD was still excellent mind you, but it just wasn't Louis on that
Gold shiny thing. It was facsimile Louis.

No. Louis was busy fallin' in love on the Wilson Benesch/vinyl system with
a veritable bestiary of amazing creatures. But on the CD, he was merely smitten
with them. And then, up came "Stompin at The Savoy", with Ella taking the lead.
But what's this? The music suddenly kicks into high gear, and the bass playing
driving along Satchmo's horn and Ella's voice is amazingly true! The
Hsu HRSW12V subwoofer backing up our Apogee Caliper
Signatures has found some kind of newfangled religion. We have to back
off the level on the Hsu. How can this be? We thought CD bass was supposed to
kick LP bass butt. But now we have to turn down the bass? And the LP bass wasn't
some flabby, bloated thing. The Wilson Benesch combo was belting out tight,
tuneful low notes. Another marketing lie hits the dust!

Oh man, we are rapidly hitting sensory overload. Ella and Louis are hanging
out in our living room, nearly forty years after they laid down these licks.
And so it goes, track after track, in the CD vs. LP comparison. MoFi's Ella
andLouis reissue is a gem, be it on CD or LP; but the Wilson Benesch/vinyl system
forever altered Gordana's and mine perception of audio playback.

After
Brian left, we kept at it. In particular, MoFi has another CD/LP reissue
of
the Oscar Peterson trio that we both really like. This time, Oscar is not in
the background, but way out in front, hammering the ivories in tuneful simpatico
with Milton Jackson on vibes. This MoFi reissue of the September, 1961, recording
of "Very Tall" is wonderful. And also again, before Messieurs Wilson and
Benesch raced into Boston with their carbon fiber rig, Gordana and I had
listened to
this MoFi CD (UDCD 655) a number of times, all the while marveling at the virtuosity
of Milt and Oscar as they jammed away.

But once the MoFi LP was put on, and AB'd with the CD, boom! No contest!
One cut, in particular, "The Work Song" by Nat Adderly, stuck out. This song
has a sudden, quick hammering unison of piano, vibes and drums at its beginning.
Ed Thigpen's drumming provides a perfect rhythmic foundation to Oscar and Milton.
And then, just as quickly, it all dies down, leaving a series of vibe/piano
overtones.

On the CD, everything is clear, but the thrust of the opening, and especially
the decay of the piano/vibes, hangs like a shimmering knife. On the LP, this
opening energy is more direct, and packs a much greater emotional wallop. But
more importantly, the notes now linger in the air not as crystal sharp edges,
but as glistening, shimmering echoes. In sum, the piano and vibes are much more
'real.'

Likewise, the LP bass in "Work Song" defied all expectations. The CD bass, while
focused and tight, just was not as musical as its vinyl "Very Tall" counterpart.
At last, the recording winds down to the mellow "Reunion Blues." Once more,
the LP captures more of the relaxed pace of the tune. It's just more Real.

What is going on here? Why does it all sound so Real on LP, and not on CD? Is
it the LP? Is it the Wilson Benesch/Ensemble rig? Is it both? I suspect that
even without the remarkable Wilson Benesch carbon fiber gear, the LP would sound
More Real. But Real or less real, this MoFi recording of Very Tall is another
must have.

To drive home this point once and for all about Real or Not Real (What is this,
Velveteen Rabbit II?), I put on another MoFi Reissue, "Catch A Fire" by Bob
Marley and the Wailers. Now I must admit, when I first heard Bob et al on the
MoFi CD (UDCD 654), I (as well as Gordana) was less than blown away. I liked
the music OK, but there was no emotional connection. Whereas the Wilson Benesch/vinyl
system seemed to have this eerie power of reincarnating musicians in our living
room, I figured if Bob was to come alive again, this was his best shot.

So on went the MoFi LP version. Oh boy! Jamaican vinyl VooDoom suddenly went
to work as long dead spirits came back to life. On the Anadisc 200, songs like "Stir it Up" and "400 Years", and Concrete Jungle' were no longer just some
catchy words sung to a driving reggae beat. They were now words of protest,
songs of emotional anguish, and of longing for a better life. "Catch A Fire" gained
an immediate, right to the solar plexus, impact. On its CD counterpart, everything,
once again, was crystal clear. But it had no ear to the heart immediacy.
But on the LP? Suffice to say, Bob has now gone from being played hardly at
all to, Hey! Where did you put that album?

Listening to Marley on the Wilson Benesch/analog rig, it quickly became clear
why he emerged as a spokesman for not only his people's longings, but for so
many others as well, in so many other parts of the world.

This Marley recording, for me, maybe best summarizes the magic that vinyl has
suddenly brought back into our life. When dormant, long ago recorded emotions
can be reawakened so vividly, so suddenly, it is time to sit up and take notice.

I wonder if Gordana will toss me another body block if, this time, it's the
CD collection I try to throw out? Somehow, I think not.